Nancy Barter

Your Independent Consultant

Hi, My Name is Nancy, aka Self Reliant Mama and I am a lazy cook with Crohn's disease. I maintain a healthy, healing diet with Thrive life Foods.
As a Thrive Life Consultant with a digestive disease, I help those seeking a cleaner diet for health uncover the hidden gem called Thrive Life freeze dried foods so they can easily navigate restrictive diets, make meal prep a snap, and heal their bodies with good, clean, back-to-basics food.

Who is Self Reliant Mama? Well, that's a loaded question as I wear many, many hats! In no particular order; I'm a foodie, a purveyor of the finest freeze dried foods, one-time featured chef, a Crohn's warrior, a Cub Scout and Girl Scout leader, a children's cooking instructor, a Mormon convert, a cake decorator, moonlight crocheter, blogger, recipe developer, aspiring nutritionist and culinary coach, mom to 2+2 and fiancee to the man that helps make it all happen.

My alter ego is Self Reliant Mama, but my friends call me Nancy. When I started this blog back in 2012, I wanted to share fun and easy ways to keep your food storage rotated by incorporating Thrive freeze dried foods in your everyday cooking.

Life throws curveballs sometimes, and my curveball was being diagnosed with Crohn's disease; an autoimmune digestive disease, in April, 2015. Years of eating overly processed foods are mainly to blame for this predicament, but I have found the secret to staying healthy without medication and it was right there in my pantry with pretty colored labels on the cans! Navigating a suddenly restrictive diet can be quite challenging, especially if you already don't love to cook. I'll admit, I do love to cook, but I'm a lazy cook! The quicker I can get it done, the better. I'm here to show you how Thrive foods take the stress out of meal prep and cooking for special diets and you don't have to be a chef to do it!

Imagine gourmet dinners in minutes with no knife skills required and few dishes to clean. Imagine your prep work being as simple as popping a lid. Imagine you, yes YOU cooking your family tasty, nutritious, chef quality meals with only one resource needed: water. I will help you take the scary out of cooking and the mystery out of clean eating with Thrive foods. Are you ready for your Food Revolution?

My purpose now as a consultant is to educate others dealing with or facing disease about the healing powers of real, simple, back-to-basics Thrive food. Self Reliant Mama now takes on a whole new meaning; empowering others to take their health into their own hands, one bite at a time.

So welcome to my blog! You will find many delicious recipes that I use often. I like to tweak recipes I find in magazines, or on Pinterest and give them a "Thrivealized Makeover", making them a little quicker and healthier to prepare. Come and learn how to get these amazing time-saving foods in your own home to fill your pantry with the best nutrition at your fingertips.

If you are a lazy cook like me, you're going to LOVE what Thrive foods can do for you in the kitchen!